NCJ Number
105199
Date Published
1987
Length
131 pages
Annotation
The projects featured in this monograph -- Project SPECDA (School Program to Educate and Control Drug Abuse) in New York City and Project DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) in Los Angeles -- are designed to prevent drug abuse among school-aged children by building students' self-esteem, teaching decisionmaking skills, and guiding them in resisting peer pressure to use drugs.
Abstract
DARE and SPECDA are widely recognized as the two best examples of police/school drug prevention education programs, worthy of replication nationwide. The underlying philosophy of police/school substance abuse prevention programs is first explained and research evidence is briefly reviewed to affirm the effectiveness of such an approach. The strength of both projects is the length and scope of the core curriculum for fifth-grade and sixth-grade students. Curriculum content is reviewed along with the teaching strategies used and audiovisual materials. The monograph also considers the additional educational activities developed by DARE and SPECDA, including 1-day school assemblies, abbreviated programs, DARE's junior high curriculum, and parent meetings. Other topics discussed are program development and implementation, program structure and administration, and the monitoring of program performance. Appended short-term evaluation of DARE.